Gibbet set up to mind us of the Punishment of evil doers and every person executed on them must be Sacraments they being objects proper to Minister occasion to our minds to reflect upon the shame and punishment of such offences as bring Men to the Gibbet then all Gods judgments upon wicked Persons and all the mercies he vouchsafes unto his Servants as Testimonies of his kindness to them and the examples of all Pious Men must be accounted Sacraments they being all designed to teach our understanding or excite devotion in us and it will be as much unlawful when I wash my hands to reflect upon my obligation to purity of heart and life or when I tast the sweetness of my food or think upon my care and labour to procure it to reflect upon the sweetness of the bread of life and how much more I am concern'd to labour after it as to use the imposed Ceremonies as the occasions of devout conceptions And lastly then to smite upon my Breast to excite Godly sorrow to Pray prostrate to encrease or to express my humility or perform any other actions of like Nature must be to add unto the Sacraments of Christs appointment And whereas the objection adds that no reason can be given why the representation of some Spiritual Duty by a Mystical Rite should not as properly pertain to the Nature of a Sacrament as the shadowing or sealing some Spiritual promise I Answer the disparity is very plain for these Rites falsly stiled Mystical may of themselves be apt to express or put me in mind of my Duty but cannot of themselves be apt without Gods pleasure signified to seal his promise or to assure me of his grace I can by meditation or by reflection upon the meanest object move my self to the performance of my Duty but cannot by the like reflections move the Author of every good and perfect gift to give me what he never promised or seal unto me any Spiritual blessing § 9 Lastly If we may take an estimate of Sacraments from those recorded in the Old or the New Testament we shall find many things required to Sacraments which are all wanting in our Ceremonies supposing that they were injoyned to these very ends For 1. A Sacramental sign of Duty obliges us to the performance of the Duty signified the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to thankfulness for the blessings represented by the Elements and to walk as becomes the Members of Christ's Body whereas a Ceremony tho apt to signifie doth not oblige us to the performance of the Duty signified nor do I sin against God provided I live holily and purely tho the consideration of a Surplice do never move me so to do or be by me improved to that end 2ly All Sacraments import a Covenant established betwixt God and Man a Stipulation on each part and by partaking of them we either enter into or else renew our Covenant with God and make profession that we are in Covenant with him And by just consequence a Sacrament is Sacrae rei signum in quantum est significans a sacred sign which sanctifies and separates the receiver from others who do not receive or own such Rites thus by the Sacraments of Circumcision and the Passover the Jews were made a separate People from all other Nations and the neglect of either of these ordinances was Cutting off from Gods People because this was a breaking of Gods Covenant Numb 9.13 Gen. 17.14 likewise we Christians are by Baptism received into Covenant with God by eating at Gods Table we make profession of our adherence to that Covenant and also by participating in the Blood of the New Covenant and to exclude a Person from the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is to exclude him from the Communion of the Body of Christ 3ly All Sacraments contain a promise on the part of God and Stipulation on the part of Man and upon this account they do not only mind us of our Duty but also lay upon us fresh obligations to perform it and also they oblige our God to give us grace sufficient to perform that Duty to which he doth oblige us by these Sacraments Now there is nothing of all this in our three Ceremonies we do not by them enter into Covenant with God nor are we by them Sanctified or Separated from other Christians who use them not nor doth God by them promise any Blessings to us nor do we oblige our Souls to any Duties towards him nor do we enter into any Stipulations with him or he with us they who do most do only take occasion from them to reflect upon their Duty as Men of Phancy and Devout affections may do from any other thing which doth occasionally present it self unto their minds And whereas it is more particularly excepted against the sign of the Cross that as it is imposed it hath the Nature of a Sacrament from this discourse we may return an easie Answer to the objections made against it as v. g. § 10 Here is saith Mr. Baxter the outward visible sign the Cross Diâ—p 5. of Cer. chap. 2. §. 56. Answ Just such another as is made in the Air by Preaching we may see the Minister making a Cross but who ever saw an Aerial Cross after it was made 2ly The inward and Spiritual Grace saith he is a Holy resolution to fight Manfully under the banner of Christ and to persevere therein Answ An Holy resolution in an Infant is a Spiritual grace indeed Here is saith he 1st A signification of grace to be wrought on the Soul and given us by God 2ly An engagement to perform the Duties of the Covenant our selves on Gods part we are to receive by this sign both qualitative and actual grace and relative grace Answ All this is said without all ground from any thing delivered by the Church of England it is no sign assuring us of Gods grace as all true Sacraments are 't is no engaging sign either on Gods part or on ours but only an Indicatory sign to the Congregation that the Baptized Person is listed among those who are to fight under Christ's Banner The Cross saith he is to Teach our Understandings and help our Memories and quickâ—n our dull Affections by minding us of a Crucified Christ and the benefits of his Cross so that this § 57 and such other Ceremonies are appointed to Teach the understanding by their Signification Answ The Book of Common Prayer saith not they are appointed to teach but only that the things appointed are apt to stir up the dull mind the difference of which two Phrases I have shew'd already And that this saith he § 58 is the way of working grace as Gods word and Sacraments do is undeniable Answ We are discoursing here not of Gods Word but of his Sacraments and that they only work grace Morally and as things apt to stir up the dull mind of Man and by objective Teaching is a false assertion which renders the
of divine service the Lord Jesus Christ shall be mentioned due and lowly Reverence shall be done by all persons present as it hath been accustomed testifying by these outward Ceremonies and Gestures their inward Humility Christian Resolution and due Acknowledgment that the Lord Jesus Christ the true and Eternal Son of God is the only Savior of the world in whom alone all the Mercies Graces and Promises of God to mankind for this life and the life to come are fully and wholly comprised And 3ly When we Kneel at the Reception of the Blessed Sacrament Rubrick after the Communion we do not pay that outward act of Worship to the Elements of Bread and Wine but to that Savior whom they represent for the Church of England hath declared that thereby no adoration is intended or ought to be done unto the Sacramental Bread and Wine there bodily received So that from the express declarations of the Church of England it appears that none of these things are by her made the objects of Religious Worship but only the occasions of tendring that Worship which we owe to God and therefore there is no appearance of Idolatry in the performance of these things Obj. 3 We are commanded to Separate from every Brother that walks disorderly 2 Thessal 3.6 § 3 And are forbidden to keep Company with any man who being call'd a Brother is a Fornicator or Covetous or an Idolater or a Rayler or a Drunkard or an Extortioner with such a one we must not Eat 1 Cor. 5.11 And if we may not Eat with Such a Person at our own Table may we Eat with him at the Holy Table of the Lord Now through the want of Discipline such Persons are admitted amongst you saith the Dissenter and therfore we dare nor joyn with you in that Ordinance Answ 1 I pray God this objection doth not make you meet together as the Apostle saith of the Corinthian Schismaticks 1 Cor. 11.17 not for the better but the worse For I much fear there may be found in those Assemblys which you resort to as more pure besides a crew of Schismaticks with whom according to the Discipline observed in the purest Ages of the Church the Christian ought not to communicate many who rail against Superiors and speak evil of Dignities and many who have once been open Rebels and have not publickly repented of those crimes and if you can communicate with them why not with such as usually do meet at our Communion Tables The wisdom which is from above is impartial Answ 2 Consider I beseech you that this argument will drive you as well from our Assemblies and from our Prayers as from our Communion Table for you may as well Argue thus him that I may not keep company with at home I may not keep company with at Church him that I must not joyn with in my Civil Converse I must not hold Communion with in Sacred him that I may not Eat with I may not Pray with as you do Argue thus him that I may not Eat with at my own I may not Eat with at the Table of the Lord. This is apparent from the occasion of the objected Precept viz. The Incestuous Person who was to be taken from among them v. 2. To be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the Flesh v. 5. To be purged out from the new lump v. 7. To be put away from among them v. 13. If therefore after admonition they continue obstinate and Refractory Offenders they are to be excluded from all Christs ordinances and to be esteemed as Publicans and Heathens Matt. 18.17 Accordingly they by the discipline observed in the purest Ages of the Church were actually excluded from Communion with her in all her Offices if then we may not joyn with them in one we may not joyn with them in other Ordinances till they have satisfyed the Church they being by this precept equally to be excluded from them all Scripture may also be as plausibly produced for the declining of Communion with them in publick Prayer and family devotions in hearing of a Sermon and the like as in receiving of the Sacrament for doth not David make it the Character of good and blessed men that they stand not in the Congregation of Sinners Doth he not say Psal 1.1 Psal 101.4 I will not know a wicked Person Answ 3 That even wicked Persons who are not Scandalously and Notoriously such but make profession of Obedience to the laws of Christ and are not by the Church cast out for acting contrary to their profession may be unblameably communicated with seems undenyable from the Example of our Saviour by whom Judas was certainly admitted to that Passover which spiritually did signify and represent Christ to them 1 Cor. 10.3 And by which rite they owned themselves the servants of the God of Israel v. 18. Whence none might eat thereof who were not Circumcised Exod. 12.48 That he was also present at the supper of our Lord I have fully proved already If then a person so unworthy and so regardless of the Law of Moses that he had actually resolved to take a reward to betray innocent-Innocent-blood If a Thief Psal 15.5 and a Covetous person was by our Lord admitted to the Passover If one who by our Lord was known to be in heart a Murtherer and a Betrayer of his Master was yet admitted by him to his Sacrament you see that sinners must be first notorious before they ought to be excluded and when they are so our Rubrick and our Canons give every Minister Authority to with-hold the Communion from them and therefore Authorise them to exercise the Discipline required in this case Hence also we may learn that to communicate with those whom we know to be wicked in this duty derives upon us no Communion in their Guilt for otherwise our Lord and his Disciples would not have joyned in Communion with that wicked one Answ 4 This precept is not directed to particular persons but to the Church of Corinth in the General as you may learn from v. 4. And therefore hence it only follows that it is the duty of Church Governors to exclude such persons from Communion with her but not that private persons should refrain Communion with the Church because they judge that they neglect their duty And therefore we do never read that Christ or his Apostles refused Communion with the Jewish Church or did neglect to go unto the Temple or the Synagogue because the Scribes and Pharisees neglected to perform their duty and our Apostle here doth never call the members of the Church of Corinth to separate from them who caused disorders in the Celebration of this Sacrament but only calls upon them to reform those disorderly proceedings And I beseech you to consider what a Gap would be laid open to perpetual Schisms if private persons were permitted to judge when their Superiors did neglect their duty in any part of publick worship
Christian sort and by a disuse of any other to incapacitate our own and our admirers devotions for the other and make both our selves and them uncharitably censorious of all Forms of Prayer and those who use them that is of the whole Catholick Church except a new and inconsiderable party CHAP. XI The Contents The Proposition That there is nothing in the Liturgy prescribed by the Church of England to which her Lay Communicants may not yield obedience The general Objections against it Answered are 1. That the phrase throughout the several Offices is such as presumes all persons in the Communion of the Church to be regenerate and in an actual state of Grace § 1. The falseness of which suggestion is shewed in ten instances and the phrase of the Liturgy is justified from like expressions of the Holy Scripture ibid. 2. Obj. That the people do not only say Amen but bear a part in the Prayers Answ This is justified from the practice of the Jews and Primitive Christians and the benefit of so doing § 2. 3. That the same Prayers are oft repeated which seems to be the vain Repetition forbidden by Christ Matth. 6.7 8. Answ These Repetitions are justified from Scripture-Examples and the practice of Christ § 3. Objections against several parts or expressions of the Liturgy Answered As 1. That in several parts of the Liturgy all profess to put their trust in God whereas it is to be feared that many in our Congregations do not so § 4. 2. That we all profess to Repent and be heartily sorry for our sins We all say on Sexagesima Sunday that God seeth that we put no trust in any thing that we do after the Communion we all give thanks to God that he hath assured us of his favour and goodness to us And in the Third Collect after Trinity we all profess that God hath given us an hearty desire to pray which professions cannot be thus generally made in truth § 5.3 That we pray that God would give to all Nations Unity Peace and Concord that he would save among the remnant of true Israelites all Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks that he would have mercy upon all men which petitions cannot be put up in Faith there being no promise of so large extent in Scripture § 6.4 That we pray to God to succour help and comfort all that are in danger necessity and tribulation to preserve all that travail by land or by water all Women labouring of child all Prisoners and Captives and so we pray for Robbers Pyrats Whores c. § 7. Some passages in the Liturgy which seem obscure or Metaphorical explained As 1. There is no health in us 2. Give peace in our time O Lord Because there is no other that fighteth for us but only thou O God 3. Lighten our darkness 4. From Fornication and all other deadly sins 5. From sudden Death Good Lord deliver us 6. By the Mystery of thy Holy Incarnation by thy Holy Nativity and Circumcision and by the coming of the Holy Ghost Good Lord deliver us 7. That our bodies may be made clean by his Body and our souls washed by his most precious blood 8. That God by the Baptism of his Well-beloved Son did sanctifie water to the mystical washing away of Sin 9. The Prayer after the Fourth Commandment Lord have mercy upon us and encline our hearts to keep this Law 10. With this Ring I the Wed with my body I thee worship and with all my worldly Goods I thee endow § 8. The Conclusion THAT there is nothing in the stinted Liturgy prescribed by the Church of England to which her Lay Communicants may not yield obedience or which can render their Communion with her sinful or unlawful to them As will be evident by answering the scruples Dissenters do suggest against the whole or any portion of that Service in which they are obliged to join with us And to begin with the Objections which respect the whole body of the Liturgy § 1 1. It is Objected That in the whole Common Prayer there is not any Petition or Confession which imports any doubt Dr. Chambers paper of unaffected scruples or fear that any of those who join in that Service are in a state of unregeneration or enmity to God whereas there are many in our Congregations of whom the Lord hath cause to complain as of the Jews that they hold fast deceit and refuse to return Jer. 3.5.11.15 To this effect runs the Objection of the Commissioners at the Savoy viz. P. 7. That throughout the several Offices the phrase is such as presumes all persons within the Communion of the Church to be regenerated converted and in an actual state of Grace which had Ecclesiastical discipline been truly and vigorously executed in the exclusion of scandalous and obstinate sinners might be better supposed but there having been and still being a confessed want of that as in the Liturgy is acknowledged it cannot rationally be admitted in the outmost latitude of Charity Answer This plainly seems to be a great mistake or false suggestion against the frame and constitution of our Liturgy For 1. The Sentences of Scripture appointed to be read at the beginning of Morning and Evening Prayer are fitted to the state of unregenerate and wicked persons and call upon them to turn from their wickedness that they have committed Ezek. 18.27 and do that which is lawful and right that they may save their souls alive To rent their hearts Joel 2.13 Dan. 9.9 10. and turn unto the Lord their God To acknowledge that they have rebelled against the Lord their God And have not obeyed the voice of the Lord to walk in his ways which he set before them Luke 15 18 19. And that they have sinned against their heavenly Father so as to be no more worthy to be called his servants 2. The Exhortation calls upon them to confess their manifold sins and wickednesses and not to dissemble or cloak them but confess them with an humble lowly penitent and obedient heart to the end that they may obtain forgiveness of the same through Gods infinite goodness and mercy and so it manifestly doth suppose that many of them who are thus exhorted have not yet obtained forgiveness of their sins 3. The General Confession doth acknowledge that we are miserable offenders and that there is no health in us and prays that God would restore them that are penitent according to his promises declared to mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord and so suggests that they have need of Repentance to interest them in those promises 4. The Absolution begins with a declaration that God desires not the death of a sinner but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live adding that God will pardon and absolve all those that truly repent and therefore calls upon us to beseech him to grant us true repentance and his Holy Spirit and doth suppose that many present want
him are defective in that Grace why may not we say of our people as David doth of his let thy mercy O Lord be shew'd upon us like as we put our trust in thee Psalm 33.22 Secondly I Answer that as there is a fear and a faith which in some is only temporary and in others permanent Exod. 14.31 Exod. 15 14. a joy which in some is only for a season â—n others lasting Luke 8.13 16. a remembrance of God and turning to him and enquiring early after him by men whose hearts are not right with him nor are they stedfast to his Covenant Psal 78.34 35 37. as well as by those persons who perform these duties in sincerity so is their a trust in God which is a discriminating mark of Gods upright Servants and a trust proper to such persons as have only some desires wrought within them to forsake their evil ways and turn unto the Lord. Wherefore we say it is sufficient to justify the use of these Petitions that we in charity stand bound to judge that they who do present themselves to be partakers of these Ordinances or call upon us to perform them do indeed trust in God according to the exigency of their present state viz. that wicked persons trust God will be merciful to them upon their repentance and pious persons that God will still continue his favour and his goodness to them Object 2 Thirdly It is objected that those Prayers are appointed to be used by all § 5 which truly and in faith can be said only by some few in our Assemblies v. g. Dr. Chamberâ— in the Communion Service it is said of all that do participate we do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings the remembrance of them is grievous to us the burthen of them is intolerable and after the receiving of the Holy Sacrament is this Prayer used we most heartily thank thee for that thou doest vouchsafe to feed VS who have duly received these holy mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of thy son and doest assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us and that we are very members incorporate into the mystical body of thy son which is the blessed company of all faithful people and are also Heirs through hope of thine everlasting Kingdom Now say Dissenters how few there be of Communicants who do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for their misdoings to whom the remembrance of them is grievous the burthen is intolerable it is matter of lamentation to all men to consider who behold the little amendment that is in their lives after the participation of the Holy Sacrament nor can we apprehend how all Communicants can be warrantably directed to speak of themselves in Gods presence as persons who have duly received the Holy Mysteries at Gods Table and are thereby assured of Gods favour and goodness to them c. whereas it is a known Scripture truth that Men and Women may eat and drink at the Lords Table unworthily and that they who do so drink damnation to themselves and that there are no such unworthy Receivers in our Congregations no Charity should or doth perswade any considerate person betwixt God and his own Soul to believe as we ought to think charitably of others so also to speak truly of our selves and not vainly to boast our selves beyond our measure in the presence of the Lord. Moreover in the Prayer for Sexagesima Sunday all present are directed to say Lord God who seest that we put no trust in any thing that we do whereas say they what roots and fruits of self dependance are in multitudes of our people the Lord seeth and Ministers cannot but see great cause sadly to bewail rather than to profess before the Lord that it is otherwise with them In the Collect for the third Sunday after Trinity all are directed to say Grant that we to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray may by thy mighty aid be defended whereas an hearty desire to pray is a special disposition of the renewed Children of God Rom. 8.15 Act. 9.11 humbly to be prayed for rather than boldly professed by many in our Congregations Answ In reference to this Petition and that of duly receiving the Holy Mysteries the Objector seems to be mistaken in putting an unnecessary sense upon them For they are no profession that all present have this hearty desire no intimation that all Communicants have duly received but the first is only a Petition that as many as God hath given this hearty desire to he would vouchsafe his aid the other is only an intimation with thanksgiving that as many as duly receive may rest assured of Gods favour and goodness towards them c. Moreover there are Prayers in Scripture so like these two that the objections here produced against them seem as strongly to conclude against those Scripture Prayers Thus Nehemiah saith O Lord I beseech thee let thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name Neh. 1.11 which is as much as this to whom thou hast given a hearty desire to pray And Daniel prayeth thus concerning a people as prone to trust in their own righteousness as others are we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness but for thy great mercies Dan. 9.18 It therefore may not be denied but that in mixt Congregations men may be said to do what they do outwardly profess and inwardly stand bound to do and many of them truly in some good measure do Thus Solomon declares that it is better to go to the house of mourning than of feasting for this is the end of all men Eccles 7.2 and the living will lay it to heart and yet alas how few do so indeed And God doth by his own Example teach us to judge thus charitably for having sent his Son unto the Jews Matt. 21.37 he saith they will reverence my son whereas these Murtherers of the Lord of Life did very scurvily express their reverence unto him Answ 2 Secondly Such Arguments as these will not permit us to obey our Saviours Precept by saying the Lords Prayer in publick Congregations in which too many cannot say Our Father they being of their Father the Devil too many cannot truly say that they forgive them that trespass against them much less can they say it as St. Luke records it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for we forgive every one that is indebted to us Luke 11.2 nor must we if these niceties prevail use in a mixt Assembly any expressions of our desires to repent or to amend or of our sorrow for our past offences there being many all too many in them who are not truly sorry for them nor do desire to reform them Answ 3 Besides what I have said to satisfy the former scruple which is here applicable also it may deserve to be observed farther 1. That the Hallel
Because these kinds of Death are more uncomfortable to our surviving Friends who in these cases have no time allowed by their consideration to wean themselves from our enjoyment and do receive no benefit from our latter ends as from our dying counsels and meditations they might do 3. Because they who dye thus want their viaticum which is provided by the word of God and the compassion of the Church to fit them for their journey to the great Tribunal and doubtless it is no small comfort to the dying Christian to enjoy an opportunity to confess his sins unburthen his Soul of them to hear the Prayers and to receive the absolution of the Ambassadors of Christ and to partake of that most comfortable Sacrament which sealeth the love of God unto him and doth assure him who faithfully doth eat this Bread and drink this Blood of Christ that he will raise him up at the last day 4. No man is so prepared to appear at Gods Tribunal but he both may and ought to be prepared better and therefore may desire to have time for further preparation O spare me a little before I go hence saith the man after Gods own heart and who will not joyn with him in that Prayer we ought indeed to be always prepared for death and 't is our wisdom so to be but who is so well fitted as he ought or he desires to be and who cannot be better fitted by a more leisurely summons for his change If we observe how ardently the dying person prays how humbly he confesseth his forepast offences how heartily he doth bewail his former sins what resolutions he doth make of living more unto the glory of God if providence shall raise him up again we cannot reasonably doubt but that it is desireable to have these opportunities vouchsafed of doing good to our own souls before we go hence and be no more seen Q. 6 What is the meaning of those words in the Litany by the mystery of thy holy Incarnation by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision by thy Baptism Fasting and Temptation by thy Agony and bloody Sweat by thy Cross and Passion by thy pretious Death and Burial by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension and by the coming of the Holy Ghost Good Lord deliver us Do not you seem to conjure here These expressions may have two very plain and obvious meanings 1. By applying them so as to make them a request that by means of all these meritorious or beneficial acts of our Lord Jesus we may be delivered from all the aforesaid miseries Temporal Spiritual and Eternal that he who took our nature on him Heb. 2.14 18.4.15 11. that he might be in all things like us and so a more compassionate High Priest to us under our natural infirmities and that by death he might destroy him who had the power of death viz. the Devil that he who came into the world that we might live through him he who was circumcised and became obedient to the Law to save us from the curse of it that he who was baptized Gal. 3.13 Matt. 3.15 that by his own example he might teach us to fulfil all righteousness and who was tempted that he might be a merciful High Priest to succour us when tempted that he who suffered such Agonies for our iniquities as caused in him a bloody sweat and a most ignominious Death upon the Cross for our Redemption that he who was raised again for our justification Rom. 4.25 and is ascended to the right hand of God Heb. 7.25 there to intercede for ever for us and being thus ascended sent his Holy Spirit to be our comforter and sanctifyer that he would by the merit efficacy and beneficial influences of all these gracious acts deliver us 〈◊〉 all those dreadful evils mentioned in the foregoing words 2. All these considerations may be here urged as so many motives to our dear Redeemer taken from the consideration of his former goodness and loving kindness to us to work deliverance for us now and so the import of them will be this by the endearing love which thou hast shewed unto us in all these gracious dispensations we beseech thee to deliver us from all the forementioned evils both of sin and punishment Q. 7 What mean you by those words in the Communion Service viz. that our bodies may be made clean by Christs body and our souls washed by his most precious blood do you not hereby seem to ascribe a greater efficacy to the blood than to the body of Christ and to restrain the virtue of the latter only unto the cleansing of the Body Answ 1 That the words used at the delivery of the Elements the body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for to preserve thy body and soul to everlasting life and the like concerning his blood are a manifest evidence that the Church intended no such thing but that we heartily believe that the benefits both of the body and blood of Christ do redound to the Salvation and consequently to the Sanctification both of our Souls and Bodies He who desires to see more to this effect may consult Dr. Womacks Letter from p. 66. to p. 74. Q. 8 Why do you say That God by the Baptism of his Well-beloved Son in the River Jordan did sanctifie water to the Mystical washing away of sin was not this rather done by Gods own institution of that ordinance to such an end than by the Baptism of his Son who knew no Sin and therefore upon whom Baptism could have no such effect Answer I Answer this is an expression frequently used by the Antient Fathers Tertullian 1 Adv. Jud. c. 8. 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 153. 3 Orat. 38 39. Epiphanius Nazianzen St. Jerom and allowed by the Assemblys Annotations * Iu. Matt. 3. where one end of Christs Baptism is assigned to be this viz. To sanctifie the flood Jordan and all other waters to the mystical washing away of sin Now for explication of the phrase consider that to sanctfie in Scripture signifies first to declare any thing to be holy to own and to acknowledge it as such Sanctificetur nomen tuum hallowed be thy name that is say Interpreters Sanctum declaretur Sancte praedicetur let it be declared and agnized as holy So when God saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will sanctifie my Great name Ezek. 36.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will be sanctified before the Heathens Ezek. 38.23.39 27. the meaning is He will declare his Holy Name to them and they shall acknowledge it And in this sense God by ordering the Baptism of his Son in the River Jordan that so he might fulfill all righteousness submit as well unto the Christians Baptism as to the Circumcision of the Jews declared that Baptism was sacred or set apart by him unto this use and Christ by his submission to it owned it as sacred and whereas if a thing be sanctified already or set